The Sun In Your Eyes
by bluelikeskies
Summary: He had been prepared for the heat, the sweat, the dips in the pool. But he hadn't been prepared for the blue. Blue as lakes, blue as sky. Or for the damp lips that sucked juice from peach pits. He was full of life and sun, and Sasuke wanted some of it.
1. Part 1: Smile Like the Sky

A/N: Hello everyone! This is a new story I just began, inspired by the summer and heat and love. I hope you guys enjoy :) With this story, I don't really know where it's all going yet, although I do have a slight idea. This one is different, because it's all relatively flexible. Also, I've changed my writing style a bit. Just to experiment. Any suggestions/reviews are always welcome and taken into account (:

* * *

 **Part 1: Smile Like the Sky**

His stomach growled impatiently as he eyed the pink slices of raw fish in front of him. He huffed, turning his head to yell, "Itachi! Hurry up!"

His father jumped, sending him a look that he pretended not to notice. "Sasuke, voice."

He opened his mouth to retort just as Itachi bounded in, all smiles, waving two sheets of paper in his hand. "I got accepted!"

His hunger is momentarily forgotten. He knew how much Itachi had wanted to get into the program despite his brother's attempts to downplay it all. "Congrats!"

"That's great," Mikoto's face lifted in delight as she took the papers and held them to her face. "A summer in the city. Oh, look! This is the student you're exchanged with. Naruto. He's handsome." She turned the second sheet around for everyone to see.

Itachi laughed. "I'll be staying at his place. Heart of the city."

Fugaku raised his eyebrows and nodded, "If the exchange goes well, maybe Sasuke can apply next year."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He loved his brother, but the one year gap in age had given Itachi too much of a head start. The man was a fucking genius, and the shadow he cast on Sasuke was far too dark. He had long given up on stepping into the light.

"It'll be good to get out into the city," Mikoto nodded, looking pointedly at her youngest son.

He nodded. He and Itachi both attended the same university in their small village of Konoha. It was a small school, but a decent one. Nonetheless, their parents yearned for them to go to the city and see the world. Itachi wanted to. Sasuke didn't. He liked Konoha. It was small, peaceful. Not too many people. And he had a few good friends. What more could he possibly want?

* * *

"Dattebayo!"

The word bounced off a sharp tongue and reverberated through the air in an unfamiliarly deep, coarse voice. He could hear his parents laughing outside as they welcomed their new guest.

Itachi's summer exchange student.

His mother had mentioned his name once, during dinner all those weeks ago. He couldn't remember it now. He slammed his forehead into his open textbook and sighed. Glycolysis could wait. His father would not. His wooden chair screeched against the floor as he stood up and dragged himself down the stairs. Better to greet the guest now than to get an earful from his father later.

As he rounded the corner into the living room, Sasuke immediately wished he had paid more attention to the man's picture when his mother had waved it in his face all that time ago. That would have prepared him for the head of sunlight that now graced his home. He had to blink to adjust to it.

The man's back was facing him as he nodded his head along to Mikoto's words. As Sasuke made his way into the room, his mother briefly looked over the man's broad shoulder to acknowledge his presence. One glance was all it took—the man noticed and followed her gaze.

He hadn't been prepared for the blue. Blue as lakes, blue as sky. Blue blue blue. And bright bright bright. Even his shirt was orange and loud. He was full of life and sun and Sasuke wanted some of it.

"Hi! I'm Naruto," the blonde extended a hand. His face shone with a brilliant smile. "Great to meet you."

 _Too bright_. He felt the need to squint against this ambush of life. "Sasuke. And, uh, you too."

The hand that wrapped around his own was firm, warm. His lungs momentarily stopped working. The touch sparked a flame inside him. Sasuke grimaced.

"Well," Fugaku nodded. He seemed to like Naruto, which wasn't typical—Sasuke's father was not an easy man to impress. "Sasuke, why don't you show Naruto up to his room?"

"You mean Itachi's room," Sasuke mentally hung himself.

 _Why did you have to do that?_

He chanced a glance at his father's unimpressed face. Time to leave before he was verbally murdered. He grabbed one of the suitcases and began to haul it up the staircase. "Come on."

His mother had thoroughly cleaned out Itachi's room right after his brother had left. Sasuke had been mildly bitter. He set the suitcase down in the center of the room and nodded. "Well, this is it. Home for the next six weeks."

Naruto walked a circle around the room, poking at the most random of objects. A corner of a bookshelf. A doorknob. A line in the wall. The edge of the mattress. Then he heaved a satisfied sigh and laid himself out on the bed. Sasuke pretended not to notice the way his thin shirt stretched over his well-developed torso, slightly damp with sweat.

"Would—" He cleared his throat. Tried again. "Would you like me to give you a tour?"

"Ohh, yeah," Naruto groaned, sitting up and stretching out his back. Sasuke looked away. He could feel his cheeks burn. He hated him. "That would be great, actually."

Sasuke walked his new guest through the house, showing him his own room, their connected bathroom, his parents' bedroom door—the room was off limits—and then downstairs, the kitchen, the dining room, his parents' study—also off limits, _unless you wanted to borrow a medical book, in which case you would politely ask first_ —and the living room.

"Do you play?" Naruto asked as he plopped down on the bench and set his fingers on the keys of their grand piano.

"A bit. For fun."

"Ah. Let's see." He chewed on his lip in thought before a melody flew out of his fingertips and danced around the room. A few birds stopped singing. "Recognize it?"

Sasuke nodded. "Chopin's Nocturne, opus 9. Number 3. In B major. It's a good one."

"It's my favorite," Naruto smiled, lifting his hands from the keys. The birds waited a moment before resuming with their singing. "What song are you?"

Sasuke briefly paused at the phrasing of the question. _Who says that?_ He pressed the lowest C on the piano and the note resonated through him. "Debussy's Claire de Lune."

Naruto laughed, a beautiful and throaty sound. The flame inside him grew. "That one puts me to sleep, actually."

His eyebrows flew into his hairline. The flame dwindled. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, it's a wonderful piece—it just—I dunno—bores me."

"Claire de Lune is a classic, you dobe." Sasuke bit his tongue. He really wasn't that offended, but _dobe?_

Naruto pouted dramatically and heaved himself off the piano bench. "Alright, bastard, show me the rest of your place."

He let that name slide—nothing was as terrible as dobe—and marched out to the backyard. His parents owned quite a bit of land, and they stroll through their garden, pool, and small chunk of forest.

"Wow, it's—really green here," Naruto commented as they paused in their peach orchard. The cicadas paused in their screaming—to admire the golden stranger, Sasuke was sure. He gestured at two peaches hanging by their heads. "Can I?"

Sasuke nodded, entranced by the line of sweat falling from his sun-kissed temple and curving along his jaw. A large, fuzzy peach was thrusted in his face. "Here." He took it with a small word of thanks and sunk his teeth into its soft flesh.

"Mm," Naruto moaned as he swallowed his first bite. Juice ran down his arm in swirling rivulets as he graciously took a second bite, mumbling, "This is the best peach I've ever had."

Sasuke stared in shock as Naruto dragged his tongue up his arm to capture the sweetness that had fallen. It did something to him. His body felt as if it was engulfed in fire. Blue eyes caught his gaze and a smile—innocent or not, he could not tell—graced pink lips. "What do I do with the pit?"

"Um." His mouth had been hanging open. He shook his head. _Focus. What the fuck is wrong with me?_ "You can just toss it. Or here, I can take it and throw it away for you."

"Okay, thanks." Naruto dug out the pit with his fingers, the soft peach squelching lewdly in his grasp. He held it up to his mouth, sucking it clean. Sasuke watched the way his lips wrapped around it, the way the pit almost seemed to pulse with every suck he gave. For a moment he wished he was in that mouth.

 _Wait, what the fuck._

Then Naruto held out his hand and dropped the pit into Sasuke's waiting palm. It lay there, brown and small and harmless, but he stared at it. _That was in his mouth. Just a second earlier, where his lips had wrapped around it and his tongue had lapped over it, under it, into its crevices. In, into, inside—_

"You going to finish that?"

Sasuke jerked out of his trance. He look briefly at the curious, blue eyes, then at the pink, wet lips. _They probably taste sweet_. "Sweet."

"What?"

"What."

Naruto laughed, mouth glistening. "Your peach. Are you going to finish it?"

"Oh, um, do you want it?"

"Yes, please." His peach was taken from his grasp. All he had now was a pit, sucked clean. "Dattebayo."

He watched Naruto finish his peach, very aware of the fact that he had just taken a bite from it earlier. An indirect kiss. His face burned. Must be the sun. He had sensitive skin.

 _Are all the city boys like this?_

* * *

"This looks amazing, doctor Uchiha," Naruto gushed as Mikoto laid out their dinner. It was the usual—slices of raw salmon and stacks of oysters atop ice. Sasuke watched his mother blush. God, his parents were falling in love with him.

"We hope you like it."

Sasuke tried to eat, but found it hard to swallow with the way Naruto sat across from him, slurping at the oysters. He would dig his tongue under the meat of the oyster and cup his upper lip over it. Then suck, twist. Slurp and swallow. He thought of the peach pit. Wondered how the movements of Naruto's mouth changed as he ate different things.

"I know it's early, but have you considered any specialties yet?" Fugaku asked.

Naruto reached for his fourth oyster. "I have, actually. Cardiology. Surgery. I'd love to be a cardiothoracic surgeon."

"Oh?" Fugaku was delighted. He was the top cardiothoracic surgeon in Konoha and married to its top obstetrician, with two sons aspiring to be physicians. They made for a picturesque family. "I'm actually performing a heart transplant in a few days, down at the Konoha Hospital. Would you like to shadow me?"

"Really?" Naruto's mouth fell open to reveal a few bits of oyster. "I'd love to!"

"Great! You know, Sasuke here, wants to be a oncologist. He volunteers every morning at the hospital. Why don't you join him?" At this, Mikoto perked up and turned to Sasuke. "That's a wonderful idea! Sasuke, I'm sure you can get Sakura to organize something?"

Sasuke nodded only to shift the attention off him. It was getting harder to breathe in Naruto's presence.

After dinner, Sakura conveniently dropped by with an apple pie. Her family owned a huge apple orchard, and she was always baking pies for her neighbors. Mikoto kissed her cheek and graciously accepted the offering.

Sasuke watched her face blossom as she met Naruto. Sometimes, he hated how pretty she was. Even her blush was light and delicate. Naruto would be completely at her mercy.

"Hello," she held out a manicured hand. "I'm Sakura. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Naruto," he smiled. "Nice to meet you, too, dattebayo."

Sasuke heard Sakura's breath stop in her throat. They had practically grown up together and he liked her, but now he wanted to punch her.

"Actually, Sakura," Mikoto floated into the room after setting away the pie. She took a seat on the couch and cracked open her book. "Naruto was just telling us how he'd be interested in volunteering at the hospital. I know it's a bit late to sign up, but do you think you could organize something with Tsunade?"

"Of course!" Sakura's face lit up. "Just come by with Sasuke tomorrow, and we'll see what we can do."

As Sakura bid her farewells after a good conversation and a few songs from the piano, Sasuke languidly made his way up to his room, each floorboard in the old house squealing under his weight. The sun had given way to the moon, and he threw his window shutters open to bathe in its soft, white light. The air was cooler at night, and he preferred to sleep with his window open.

The shirt on his back was starchy from the day's sweat, and he stripped it off with a sigh. It landed in the laundry hamper along with the rest of his clothing. The night air was soothing against his skin and he made his way into the bathroom.

He had barely closed the door behind him when the door to Itachi's room opened to reveal a fully clothed Naruto. Sasuke screeched.

"Shit, sorry!" Naruto blubbered. Sasuke noticed blue eyes run up and down his naked form. He turned to the wall. "I didn't hear you—had to pee! Sorry!"

"There's something called! Knocking!" He slammed the door in Naruto's face. He missed his brother now. Itachi would have knocked. Hell, Itachi would have heard him. Would have known he was using the bathroom. He knew Sasuke always showered after dinner.

But that encounter left his skin burning. Hot enough that he had to spend an hour under the coldest water he could handle. Who cared if the dobe had to pee. He would hold it.

* * *

Sasuke didn't know what enraged him more—the fact that Naruto had seem him completely naked, or the fact that Naruto acted completely normally the next morning. He had come down to breakfast a couple minutes late—punctuality was important in the Uchiha household, but apparently his parents let Naruto get away with it—with a bright smile and an even brighter, "Good morning!"

Throughout the meal, the blonde had chatted away, happily answering his parents' questions about his family and his life in the city. Sasuke stuffed oatmeal into his mouth and fumed.

In Konoha, people walked everywhere. Cars were rare, and only one or two were ever in the village at the same time. Walking took time, but Sasuke didn't usually mind. He enjoyed the quiet bustle of a village that was just waking up. Except now, Naruto walked alongside him. Babbling and babbling and babbling. Sasuke could not understand how he could have so much to talk about.

"—Sasuke?"

He was pulled from his quiet fury. "What."

"I asked you a question."

"I didn't hear it." Sasuke tried not to notice the slight pain in Naruto's voice at having been ignored. Naruto peered at him and stopped walking.

Sasuke threw his arms up in exasperation. The day was heating up and he was beginning to sweat. He hated starting out his day soaked in sweat. "What are you doing? We're going to be late. And it's getting hot."

He shifted under Naruto's gaze. The stupid smile had fallen from his face. "Is this about last night?"

 _Yes_.

Sasuke crossed his arms. "No."

"So it is."

"Then why did you ask?"

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I mean, we're both guys, anyways, and it's just a body—"

 _Just a body. Just. A. Body. A man with his confidence wouldn't understand._

He spun on his feet and walked away.

* * *

Naruto studied by the pool. Or in the pool, sometimes. He would lather himself in sun lotion and plop down on his stomach with his head buried in his textbook. He had three different pairs of swim shorts, two orange and one black. Sasuke had bitten through the inside of his cheek when he'd realized they were in the same year in college. It proved to his father that he could have been better. Could have gone out into the city this summer like Itachi did. Except he hadn't.

Sasuke wasn't in love with his desk, but it was where he studied. It was where he had always studied, so the thought of moving anywhere else in the house or village had never occurred to him. His desk was efficient—it had shelves and drawers and books and notebooks and pens. His room was quiet and devoid of distractions. His window would be open and the air would spin around him with a whisper. And he would study.

 _Tap, tap, tap._

"Yes?"

His door opened a crack. "See, I knocked!"

He felt his body go cold. "Get out."

His door didn't move. "Can we talk?"

"No."

No, as in they hadn't spoken a word since Sasuke had walked away from him six days ago. Naruto had followed, speaking persistently, then quieted and drifted a block behind him until they reached the hospital. He knew his parents were worried, but he ignored them. He also ignored the fact that Sakura was visiting much more often, and that she and Naruto would spend the few hours after dinner studying together, or swimming together, or walking into the village together. Her laughter would ring up to his room, clear as bells, and Sasuke would be forced to shut his window.

"Sasuke." Naruto inched his way into his room, taking a seat at the edge of his bed. "I didn't mean to offend you the other day."

Sasuke stayed in his seat at his desk, staring into his textbook. The citric acid cycle. Oxaloacetate to citrate to isocitrate to alpha-ketoglutarate to succinyl-CoA to succinate to fumarate to malate and back to oxaloacetate.

But he could not concentrate. He was hyperaware of the fact that Naruto had pulled out his own textbook and was reading it. That he breathed deeply and slowly and mumbled the words under his breath. That he was studying glycolysis and repeating the enzymes of glycolysis and now pyruvate was getting jumbled into malate in Sasuke's head. He threw his pen at his desk. It bounced once and flew to the ground. _Great. Just wonderful. Fuck._

He turned in his seat to face Naruto with his hands folded neatly in his lap. He let his shoulder rest on the back of the chair. Blue eyes lifted expectantly from the enzymes of glycolysis. "To you, it was just a body."

Naruto closed the book to show he was listening. When he made no move to speak, Sasuke continued through his surprise, "And maybe to you, yeah—a body is just a body. But I'm not as confident as you. I don't go around showing my body to people. Not a lot of people see it, and I don't know you."

Naruto nodded, as if deep in thought. With his face still serious, he looked Sasuke in the eye, "I know it doesn't mean much coming from me, but you are you, Sasuke. No matter what you look like. Don't feel bad for that."

In that moment, Sasuke saw more than dumb catchphrases and witty jokes in the clarity of Naruto's eyes. His rage had slipped away days ago, but the wall he built around himself was beginning to dissolve now. He offered a small smile.

Naruto set his textbook aside on Sasuke's bed and began stripping off his shirt. His swim shorts were orange today. "It's hot. Swim with me?" He left the room with a breeze that smelled of peaches.

Sasuke slipped on his own pair of navy swim shorts and made his way to the pool, where Naruto was already jumping in the water. He was about to slide in when Naruto held out a hand.

"You're going to need sunscreen," he said, pulling himself out of the pool. Sasuke watched the way his muscles moved under tanned skin and followed the droplets of water making their way down his toned arms. "If that skin doesn't burn, I don't know what will. Here."

"Thanks." He muttered as Naruto squeezed a liberal amount of the lotion onto his hand and smoothed it over Sasuke's shoulders and back. His thumb worked into a knot, and Sasuke had to swallow a groan. The fire inside him was back. He shook away the hand. "Good enough."

"Okay."

"Good enough" later became a habit. He and Naruto would return from the hospital, damp with sweat, and enjoy lunch by themselves. Typically, it was something simple, quickly put together by Mikoto before she left in the morning. Other times, they would attempt to cook. Sasuke made a beautiful pasta, and Naruto was surprisingly adept at both making and eating ramen. They would change into their swim shorts—Sasuke always in navy blue, and Naruto in either orange or black, depending on his mood—and haul their textbooks to the poolside.

They took turns applying sun lotion. Sasuke always found it hard to breathe as he ran his hands over Naruto's smooth shoulders. Once, he dared to dig his index and middle finger into the junction between Naruto's collarbone and shoulder. He was rewarded when Naruto threw his head to the side and groaned, the tips of his golden hair dancing lightly on Sasuke's arm. Sasuke looked down in dismay to find a damp spot in his swim shorts, where navy blue had darkened to black. Naruto turned to face him and he panicked.

"I put some on earlier," Sasuke nodded frantically. "It's good enough."

He threw himself in the pool. Naruto gave him a confused smile that said, _I don't believe you but okay_ , and passed him his textbook. "If you say so."

It wasn't good enough. The sun loved him a little too hard and he burned under it. He sat on the couch in the living room with his shoulders hunched as Naruto peeled little translucent slivers of skin from him. The intimate action brought them closer.

 _He's holding a piece of me._

Naruto dipped his fingers into a tub of aloe gel and rubbed it over the angry, red skin. Sasuke sighed into its coolness.

* * *

As he waited for his skin to heal, he stayed inside and played the piano. Or rather, he played Debussy's Claire de Lune on repeat. After two afternoons of it, Naruto walked in, golden and smiling and dripping from his dip in the pool. Sasuke chanced a quick glance at him. His finger missed a key and the note fell flat.

"Okay, I know I said this song put me to sleep," Naruto said, resting a wet elbow against the piano and watching white fingers dance over the keys. "But the way you play it—it's different."

"It is?"

"Claire de Lune. Light of the moon," he paused to think. "But you play it like a sunrise. I like it."

 _You look like a sunrise._

Sasuke blushed, his face turning into the shade of the peaches that Naruto loved to eat.

* * *

He found himself suddenly awake in the middle of the night. Awoken from nothing. It's odd, falling from a floating state to harsh, unforgiving consciousness. The leaves rustled against the wind outside his window, the crickets sang, the pipes in his house creaked. Then he felt the pressure in his bladder. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to fall back into his dream, but the pressure was insistent. Sighing, he lumbered out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to pee. It was autopilot from there. Flush. Wash hands. Fall back into bed. Sleep.

The second time he woke was not to nothing, but the sound of running water. The shower. He tossed in his bed, its mattress squeaking twice, and buried his face in his pillow. Then he realized that someone was showering. His eyes blinked open. Sunlight filled his window.

Naruto was showering.

He frowned. Naruto usually showered at night, not that he noticed. The sound wasn't muffled though, and he glanced at the doorway to find his door still ajar after his previous bathroom trip. His shower had a clear curtain— _it's functional_ , his mother had said upon its purchase years ago—and he turned his head to peer in.

His heart threatened to break from his chest. The flames inside him rose like a storm. Sucking the oxygen from him. Naruto was washing his hair, white suds of soap falling from his tousled mess and running down his back, between the dimples on his hips, over his round, muscular ass.

 _Who knew Naruto had such a nice ass?_

Naruto scrubbed at his hair, the movement of his arms causing the muscles of his back to shift. Water curved over his shoulder blades in small rivers. He mentally slapped himself. _Of course he did. The man was built like Adonis._

His lungs creaked, and he realized he had forgotten to breathe. He sucked in a heavy gulp of air, but in his greedy inhale, choked on a drop of his own spit. He coughed.

Naruto whipped his head around. Met his panicked gaze with a shock of blue. Sasuke's lungs screamed and he tried to breathe, could not breathe, as Naruto calmly stepped out of the shower. The water was still running from the shower head and dripping off his hair and down his shoulders and over his chest and down— _to his dick, penis, cock, thing_ —as he walked toward him. Blue held Sasuke's wide, dark eyes in a frightening state of calm as he shut the door.

The click that followed was the loudest thing Sasuke had ever heard in his life.


	2. Part 2: Fever Pitch

A/N: Here's the second chapter! I'm so glad the first part was so well-received. Again, special thanks to everyone who has left a review (:

Warning: No explicit boyxboy action. I'm not sure how to describe this, but you'll see. Be prepared.

* * *

Part 2: Fever Pitch

The heat encompassed him. Like any other summer in Konoha, the humidity of the sweltering air lapped at him like a wet tongue of fire. Yet, it was only after the morning that he had witnessed Naruto in the shower that he felt he truly understood the word.

Heat.

It ran up his spine and lit his nerves on fire. His hands felt numb. His body tingled and he knew that if he were to cut himself open, fingers of blistering, blue electricity would grab at the air in handfuls. He feared he would set the house up in flames. Sweat stuck the strands of his hair to his cheeks and neck.

He spent the day doing his best to avoid Naruto. It wasn't difficult—they weren't expected to volunteer at the hospital on weekends, and it meant relative freedom, aside from the occasional hours of studying.

Sakura dropped by earlier in the morning, her cropped hair bouncing delicately on her shoulders as she spun around the gardens in her pastel green sundress. She looked like a flower in bloom and Naruto, the sun. Sasuke hated how perfect they looked together. He pushed himself deeper into the couch as he watched her fingers curve against his forearm. Then he followed the vein that ran from his forearm and around his bicep. He wanted to be that vein, to run underneath his skin, over his muscle—

 _What the fuck is wrong with me?_

"Want to come to the movies with us?" Sakura flew over like a bird and lightly plopped herself down next to him. "We haven't decided which, but I hear there are a few good ones out right now."

"I'm good," Sasuke shook his head. He picked at his nails. "I should study."

"You've studied all week," Naruto crossed his arms. "Na, Sasuke, I'm sure you'd enjoy a show." His lips gave way to a smirk. Sasuke saw the knowing glint flicker in his eyes and felt his breath yanked from his lungs. The image of Naruto's naked body was carved into his mind, in stone.

 _Just a body. Just. A. Body. Justabodyjustabodyjustabody._

"I can't," he pointed to his red, peeling face. "Sunburned, remember?"

This excuse seemed to get through to the two, and they nodded solemnly, sprouting a few textbook facts about the dangers of skin cancer and the wonders of SPF before bounding out the door. He wallowed in boredom and self pity until his mother asked him to help her sort out a few patient charts. He dutifully nodded his head.

"You should really try going out more," Mikoto lightly suggested an hour in. She paused from her paperwork to pull her hair into a bun. "You know, most parents tell their children to study more and play less. With you, it's just the opposite."

Sasuke pulled the pout saved only for his mother. "I do play."

Mikoto raised an eyebrow at him.

"I do!"

"You know what?" She shook her head as if having just come to a decision. "Here, I'll take these. You go out and do something fun. Catch a movie. Take a bike ride. Go hang out with your friends. Do something outside. Be home for dinner."

He stared, dumbfounded. Tried to protest. "But—I'm sunburned."

"Sunburned, not handicapped. Take my straw hat. Go."

He dragged himself to his room and stuffed a bottle of water and a book—a real book, not a textbook—into his backpack. Outside, she said. Not necessarily into town. Not necessarily socialize. With people. She'd never know. He grabbed his bike from the garage, threw the wide-brimmed hat on his head, and rode until he reached a hill completely covered by a canopy of trees. He propped his bike against a tree and walked deeper inside until the road disappeared. Then he settled himself against a tree with a large, curved trunk and pulled out his book. The tree embraced him gently as he read. Napped. Then read some more. When he finished the water in his bottle, he set to leave.

"Sasuke, hey!" He had been about to mount his bike when Sakura called him. She was behind him, but he'd recognize that voice anywhere. The sun was starting to fall, and she was alone on her route home. It took her a moment to run up to him. "Reading again?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. He had to remind himself that he liked her when Naruto wasn't there. He looked to the road in search of the golden head. It was empty. "Where's Naruto?"

"Wasn't feeling well," she pursed her lips. "It might've been that sandwich we had for lunch, you know, at that place that doesn't wash its vegetables?" He nodded. His stomach had once been acquainted with their poor habits. "Yeah, that one. I told him not to, but he insisted and they did look better this time… guess not."

Sasuke laughed. He walked his bike as she skipped alongside him. Like old times, times before Naruto. "He's a character, isn't he?"

"Yeah. It's been a while since we've had someone like him come along," she said. He knew what she meant. Tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear, she peered at him. "You know, he talks about you a lot."

His lips parted in surprise. He tried to ignore the way his heart jumped. "There's not much to say about me."

"Stop that. You're always so hard on yourself," she paused as they had reached the intersection between their homes. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." She leaned in to kiss his cheek and he watched her green dress fade into the meadows as she skipped away.

* * *

His knuckles came down on the wood of the door in three gentle raps. This was different. He'd never had to knock with Itachi.

"Yeah?"

He smiled to himself at the voice, slurred with sleep. "Dinner's ready," he announced and poked his head into the room to find Naruto tangled in his sheets, his back to him. The light caught the sheen of sweat coating his skin. The room smelled thickly of sleep and Naruto. He swallowed and cleared his throat. "Sakura said you weren't feeling too well."

Naruto turned to peer at him from beneath the blankets, his hair sticking to his forehead. He looked pale. "Mm, I'm not. Had this weird sandwich earlier. Might skip dinner, though."

He felt a twang of softness for the blonde in that moment. It was a new feeling. "You sure? You look like shit." He walked over and without thinking, pressed a hand against a clammy forehead. Naruto chuckled breathily. In the darkness of the room, the blue eyes that looked up at him shone like a thousand summer skies. He felt both so incredibly helpless and so unimaginably powerful all at once.

 _I'd let you do anything to me. Anything you wanted._

Naruto wrapped his hand around his wrist. His touch burned. Sasuke jolted. "I'll be fine. Just gonna sleep it off." He pulled the hand from his forehead and held it there. "Thanks."

He let go.

Upon learning of his condition, Fugaku and Mikoto nodded solemnly and put away Naruto's bowl. Sasuke stared at the empty seat at the table and took bites of his onigiri in silence as he listened to his parents discuss the newest treatments of different illnesses. Apparently there was a large physician's conference in the city at the end of the week.

"Your mother and I plan to attend. It runs rather late, so we'll spend the night in the city and visit Itachi before we return," Fugaku said. "I take it you and Naruto can responsibly take care of yourselves?"

Sasuke nodded.

Then Mikoto smiled at him. "Why don't you invite your friends over? It'll be nice to have everyone meet Naruto, and you guys can have fun in the pool. The house won't be as empty, then."

His mother was always trying to get him to socialize. He frowned. "I'm still sunburned."

"It's almost healed. And part of the pool is shaded, you can use my hat again," she suggested. She looked to Fugaku for help, and he nodded, "It'll be good to pull your head out from those textbooks."

He relented. "I'll give Sakura a call."

His parents looked pleased.

After dinner, Mikoto pushed a bowl of plain porridge and a glass of water into Sasuke's hands. "Bring those up to Naruto, will you? In case he gets hungry."

He didn't bother knocking this time. Naruto had said he would be asleep. And he was, with his cheek pressed into his pillow and his legs splayed, blanket thrown haphazardly on the floor. Sasuke set the tray on the bedside table and bent to pick up the blanket. He hesitated, staring at the cloth in his hands. Naruto had been tangled in it the last time he came in. He pressed the sheet to his face. Inhaled. Shivered. It smelled like him.

 _What. Am. I. Doing._

He shook his head and threw it on Naruto's sleeping form. His bare feet made soft patters against the hardwood as he left and shut the door behind him.

* * *

The day before his parents were set to leave for the conference, Naruto bailed on him after their hospital shift. Sasuke crossed his arms over his volunteer uniform as he watched the light bounce in blue eyes.

"Her name's Ino, and she's super cool!" The blonde was telling him.

"Yeah, I know Ino."

Yes. Ino, the girl with the flower shop. She studied botany, but volunteered in the pediatrics unit in her spare time. Sasuke hated people like that. Kind and pure and beautiful and utterly perfect.

"We're going to catch a movie and she's going to show me her flower shop." His smile was brilliant. Sasuke gaped in distaste. "An independent flower shop! Non-corporate. How cool is that?"

 _Your afternoons are supposed to be mine._

"Fine, okay."

"I'll see you later tonight!"

"Fine."

"Bye! Dattebayo!"

 _What the hell did that word even mean?_

"Hn."

He walked himself home. His parents were at work. He had once enjoyed having his home to himself, but now even the cicadas couldn't scream loud enough to fill the absence.

His stomach growled, but he ignored it. Let it hurt. _Let him know he hurt me._ Maybe Naruto would find out and feel bad, and never leave him like this again. He shook his head, suddenly feeling ridiculous, and gulped down leftovers he had scoured from the fridge. He pulled himself up the stairs and at the door to his room, paused. He trudged past it. His shirt was damp against his skin from the walk back. It stuck to his back.

He opened the door to Naruto's room and stepped inside. He didn't know why he was here. The thick smell of Naruto filled him. He saw that image of Naruto again, tangled in his sheets with his hair flattened against his face in sweat. There must be so much of him in this bed. He crawled under his sheets. The blistering air pushed against him, but he burrowed deeper and pressed his face to the pillow and breathed in.

 _God, Naruto, if you were here right now._

He parted his lips and stuffed the blanket into his mouth. Bit down. Breathed in again. His body tingled. He realized he was hard. He lifted his head and put the pillow between his legs. Pressed his hips into it. A groan tore from his lips, muffled behind the blanket.

 _Fuck, Naruto._

He inhaled again—breathing in Naruto's scent, wrapped around the heat of his body—and pushed his aching hardness into the pillow. The friction made him pant, his mouth held open against cloth. He rolled his hips again and again, with his lips pulled taut over the blanket that smelled of him, his nose pressed into the sheet that smelled of him, his hard, hard cock encased in the soft pillow that smelled of him. He pressed into Naruto and Naruto, into him. Over and over, until he came, eyes scrunched shut, his body trembling, sweat running down his temple, surrounded by Naruto. Ignoring the mess between his legs, he brushed his sweat-soaked hair out of his face and breathed in the summer and fell asleep.

When he awoke, the sun was still out. No one was home yet. He stood, put the pillow back where it was, made the bed again, and walked into the bathroom. He turned the water on high, and let it run over his hand for a moment, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. Then he stripped his clothes off, and stepped in. He wanted to burn, wither away until he disappeared.

* * *

Naruto was still out, but Sakura dropped by with an apple pie, per her usual post-dinner routine. Sasuke's heart sang a cruelly happy song because Sakura wasn't visiting for Naruto. So she still cared about him. He liked being the center of attention. Sometimes. Or most times, when the attention wasn't coming from his parents.

Mikoto beamed. She shared news of the planned pool party, and Sakura's face broke into a smile. "Of course! I'll call Ino and Neji as well. I'm sure they'd love to come!"

Sasuke watched his mother whisk the pie away—after shooting him a look because he hadn't told his friends about the party as he said he would—and fell back into his couch. Sakura joined him and rambled about her day. It was nice when she rambled. He didn't have to talk as much. Their conversation eventually moved from movies to music and from music to medicine to their dreams for the future. They paused, drawing breath. They hardly ever got far on that subject. Talk of the future was daunting. Sasuke changed the subject to one that was constantly on his mind.

"So, Naruto, huh?"

She looked at him. "What about him?"

"You know what," he raised an eyebrow to lighten his tone.

"What, no!" Her emerald eyes grew big in realization and she shook her head in denial. Then nodded slowly. "Well, yeah, at first, but he just wanted to be friends. Which is completely fine. I'm just not his type." She glanced sideways at him. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Naruto?" She elbowed him and he clutched at his ribs, feigning assault. He opened his mouth to object, but she beat him to it. "Oh, come on! I see the way you look at him."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sasuke, you're _drooling_ all over him. At least save yourself some dignity while doing it."

He had tried to be discrete. Guess it wasn't. "Shit."

Then she leaned over, close enough that he could smell the flowers of her perfume, and whispered five words that almost sent him into cardiac arrest.

"I think he likes you."

* * *

With his parents out at the conference, Sasuke ate his breakfast silently. He stared at the bouquet of flowers that sat in the blue vase on their dining table. Naruto had brought it back the night before, apparently having arranged it himself as a small thank-you to the Uchiha's. Mikoto had kissed his cheek at, as she put it, his "thoughtful gesture."

Sasuke knew Ino must have done most of the work. He knew that he had been in Naruto's bed yesterday. He also knew that Naruto maybe-liked him. It's true that he was an advocate for education, but now, Sasuke hated knowledge.

Naruto bounded down—late as usual—and tried to make conversation. He failed because Sasuke refused to look him in the eye, so he carried out stuffing his face with scrambled eggs.

The last dish was just being cleared from the table when Sakura arrived, with Ino and Neji in tow. They carried baskets of food and towels with them, and were quickly making conversation with Naruto. Ino swooned and giggled. Sasuke bit his tongue when she sent him a look and waggled her eyebrows. Apparently Sakura didn't keep her mouth shut. Either that, or Naruto didn't. He didn't know which of those he preferred.

His mother's hat was heavy. Well, not really, but he felt dumb wearing it as he sat at the edge of the pool in the shade of a large tree, his legs swinging in the water. The dumbness made it heavy. Naruto stood in the sunny end of the pool, his arms waving wildly as he spoke with Ino and Sakura, who were latched to his every word. He wished he hadn't been sunburned. He hated that Naruto didn't choose to stand closer. Didn't he know that the sun gave people skin cancer? Perhaps Sakura had been wrong about his feelings for him. Sasuke glared at the water.

"The only people I know from the city are my cousins," Neji said as he lounged by him in the shaded end of the pool, eating a piece of Sakura's pie. He burned easily, too. Sasuke was grateful for their similarities. "And they're nothing like him."

Sasuke pushed his mother's hat higher up on his head. "I mean, that's kind of like saying that everyone from the countryside is like me. Which isn't true, because look at Sakura. And then Ino."

Neji chuckled, "I wonder what a city boy is doing here."

"Beats me." He scoffed. "Probably to get in touch with nature. Or a few country girls."

Neji barked out a laugh, and Sasuke briefly caught Naruto's eye as the trio glanced over at the sound. His chest shriveled in guilt.

 _Why do I say these things?_

"Actually, I don't know," he said to Neji, suddenly flustered. He swung his feet out of the pool and made to stand, but the dumb hat kept falling over his eyes and his left foot slipped against the tile and the rest of his body came falling.

"Fuck!" He touched his fingers to his throbbing lip. It came away red. Dripped into the water of the pool and twirled away into the clarity of nothingness. He stared at his hand for a moment, taking in the jolt of color against his pale complexion. Everyone was watching him.

"Shit, you okay?" Neji reached over. Sasuke shoved him off and pulled himself out of water. The hat had come off when he fell and he left it there, floating on the water. His mother never really liked it that much anyways.

"Fine, I'm fine." He trudged across the garden into his kitchen, leaving a trail of water and dirt in his wake. The kitchen towel sat in a heap on the dining table. He grabbed it, stuffed ice into it, and held the bundle to his lip. He knew it wasn't clean, but he couldn't bring himself to find the firstaid kit. Raised by physicians and he couldn't even do it. Let the infection take him. When had his life gotten so pathetic?

With a shaky breath, he collapsed in the corner of the kitchen counters. He slammed his head into the cabinet behind him and closed his eyes. Counted his breaths.

The patter of bare feet against the tiles came before the now familiarly hoarse voice. "Sasuke?"

He didn't answer. Cabinets were opened and shuffled through.

"Sasuke." The voice was closer. The feet found their way around the counter. Even closer now. "Hey, hey."

He opened his eyes.

Naruto was kneeling before him, holding onto the firstaid kit he must have found a moment before. He took the towel from Sasuke and set it on the counter. "Come on. That's not clean, you know."

Sasuke let him tend to his lip. "It's not too deep," Naruto commented as he ran an alcohol swab over the gash. He winced at the sting. Then, a dab of ointment. The pain faded. He tried to ignore the concentration in blue eyes as Naruto pressed at his lip with his index finger. "Are you okay?"

"Yes."

Naruto looked at him. He wasn't talking about the lip. Sasuke shrugged, "I'm fine."

Naruto didn't press him. He just nodded and threw away the used swabs and set the firstaid kit back in its cabinet. Sasuke followed his methodical movements until he plopped himself back down at his side.

Sasuke jerked a little when Naruto took his leg and set it in his lap. His calf slipped against the heated skin of Naruto's stomach before it settled over the damp cloth of his black swim shorts. Naruto grabbed his foot and pressed into his arch with his thumbs. He tried to pull his foot back. "I said I'm fine."

"Just let me."

 _You don't know how much I'd let you do. It scares me._

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He counted to ten, then twenty because it felt better than he'd like to admit, and yanked his foot from the massage. Naruto exclaimed in surprise and tried to grab for it. Blue eyes were so wide that Sasuke felt his self-pity and misery melt away into laughter. He slipped to the ground as he curled his leg to himself, kicking at Naruto's hands until they wrapped around his ankle. He screeched at having been caught again, but it melted into a howling guffaw that only sent them into more giggles. The floor was hard against the back of his head, but he didn't care. Just laughed and laughed and laughed underneath that bright, dancing gaze. He didn't realize how close Naruto was to him until he felt the other boy's weight against his curled leg. Naruto realized this, too. He'd been leaning on his leg in his mirth.

Their laughter faded.

Naruto moved to sit up. Sasuke couldn't stand the distance. They'd been so close. He sat up, too. "Wait."

Naruto looked at him. The careless amusement was gone. Sasuke didn't like it when the blue eyes quieted. The gaze was almost too much, as if the world had suddenly gone still and all of the sun was suddenly focused solely on him. When Naruto spoke, his voice was low, almost a whisper. "It won't last."

"I know."

Naruto touched his brow. Ran his fingers down his cheek. The touch fluttered against his skin like embers in ashes, light and searing all at once. "I leave in four weeks."

"I know."

 _When had he gotten so careful?_

"Sasuke." Naruto's voice was strained now. He ran his thumb over the cut on Sasuke's lip. The skin around it was swollen, red and angry. Inflamed as the summer. Sasuke let his mouth fall open. He liked the way Naruto stared at it. "We shouldn't."

"I know," he said, catching Naruto's hand in his own. He dug his fingers into his palm. "But we _can_."

 _We can,_ _we can_.

The barrier shattered. Naruto pulled at Sasuke at the same time that Sasuke pulled at him. Their lips met in the middle, blood and ointment and all.

* * *

When the judges presented him a first place medal at his piano competition, he had been satisfied. When his teachers presented him as valedictorian, he had been satisfied. When the university mailed him an acceptance letter, he had been satisfied. When Naruto had kissed him full on the mouth, he didn't know what he felt.

It was as if his entire being threatened to burst. He heard his pulse ringing in his ears like a drum. This couldn't be healthy. He felt his breath slip out his nose, felt Naruto's breath against his skin, quivering. Warm when he breathed out, cold when he breathed in. He heard the sound of their lips sliding against one another, the lewd smacking so hushed that it was deafening.

His lip stung, the wound opening again, the bitter ointment smeared over their mouths. He tasted his own blood. No doubt Naruto could taste it, too, and yet he lapped and sucked at his lips as if they could offer him everything he had ever wanted. He felt himself becoming a part of Naruto.

Some time in between all this, he'd pushed Naruto against the counter. His knees ached from where they dug into the tile on either side of him. He liked having him trapped like this. Naruto ran his hands up his back, holding his body to him. Like it was precious to him. Sasuke smiled into the kiss that hadn't broken since their lips first met. All this life and sun and sky—it was his.

He ran his hands through Naruto's hair, holding his head against the cabinets. He'd never touched it before—the sun. He threaded it through his grasp and pulled. It was coarse, like his voice. He felt it flow between his fingers like rivers of sunlight.


	3. Part 3: This

A/N: Finally. This chapter has been finished. I'm so sorry it took two weeks! I've been out traveling and studying for finals (not really an excuse since I only have one, this term), but here. I've poured my heart into this chapter. As always, thank you all for your kind reviews. I'd also like to take some time to address some questions that came up in the reviews:

1\. Yes, this story is heavily inspired by Call My By Your Name. I'm so glad it's been noticed! If you haven't done so yet, watch the movie and read the book. Stunningly beautiful. Filled my heart and broke it to pieces. However, I foresee a different ending to this story.

2\. I know that Hinata hasn't really held a present role in any of my stories, and no, I don't hate her. In Summer Rain, I had a different plan for her character, but it didn't end up playing out, so she just wasn't really there. Here, I've placed her in the city (mentioned last chapter), so she won't be making an appearance anytime soon (but might in the future!). I personally have a few issues with Kishimoto's character arc for her, though I will not drag it into this right now. Also! Ino is written here because I needed someone bright and bubbly and loud. Someone not like Sasuke, so he'd be jealous somewhat, and she fit!

Warnings: romping ensues.

* * *

 **Part 3: This**

He tasted like gold. Not that Sasuke had ever tasted gold, but this is what he imagined it would taste like. Sweet and salty and nothing at all. Soft as the tongue and lips he pulled into his mouth.

"Sasuke? Is everything okay?" Sakura's clear voice cut through his haze of heat and lust like a iced blade. "We're getting worried out here."

He pulled his mouth from Naruto's in a flurry and stared at him, eyes wide. He tried to ignore the wetness around Naruto's swollen lips as he wracked his mind for an acceptable answer. Sakura's footsteps were getting closer. If she saw the way he was straddling Naruto's lap, he'd kill himself.

"I'm fine," he bit out. His voice came out hoarser than he had anticipated, and he cleared his throat. The footsteps stopped. Naruto's lips curled into a smirk before latching onto his throat and sucking. He clawed at his broad shoulders. "Just a—cut!"

 _Fuck_.

"Wait, where are you?" He could picture Sakura standing at the entrance of the kitchen, pink hair flying around her head like a halo as she looked for him. No, if she saw the way he was straddling Naruto's lap with his head falling back against that mouth, he'd kill Naruto first. Then he'd kill himself.

"Here!" He shoved Naruto from him with some effort and stood up, flashing his brightest smile. She turned to appraise him. "I was looking for the firstaid kit."

Sakura opened the cabinet she was standing next to, eyeing him oddly. The peach juice in her hand sloshed dangerously in its glass. "It's right here. It's always been right here."

"Oh. Cool." Naruto ran his tongue up his calf. Sasuke kneed him in the jaw.

"Here, need help?" She started to pull the firstaid kit from the cabinet.

He was already hopping past the counter and out the door. "I already got it!" He grabbed the glass of peach juice from her hand as he passed her.

"What—"

"Thanks!"

"Wait, have you seen Naruto?"

He was already running to the pool. Neji and Ino stood in the glistening water, watching him curiously. All he had to do was jump in. Then the water would envelope him and it would all go away. "Nope!"

Ino stared at him as he made it to the edge of the water. She opened her mouth to say something, but only screams escaped her lips when he flopped into the pool. He held his glass above the water as his head dove under.

"You good?" She asked when he surfaced, wiping water out of her eyes and throwing it in his face in retaliation.

He nodded. "Uh huh, fine. I just put some ointment on the cut."

Her eyebrows creased and she poked at his neck. "You might want to get some ice on that."

"On what?" He covered his neck with a hand.

"It's bruised."

"Oh. Good idea." His cheeks reddened. "I'll, uh, go do that now."

 _Naruto, I'm going to fucking kill you_.

* * *

It wasn't until Sasuke had shut the front door to the shrinking figures of Sakura, Ino, and Neji that he realized he and Naruto were alone. Completely and utterly alone. He turned on him.

"You! Gave me! A hickey!" He pointed to the bandage that he had haphazardly stuck on his neck. "In the middle of the day! With Sakura in the room!"

Naruto smiled. "But you liked it."

"Ino saw, and I'm sure Neji saw too."

"So?"

"Naruto!"

Naruto held up his hands, smirk growing. Sasuke shook his head. "I'm going for a shower." He stalked up to his room, flung open the shutters to his window, and perched on the windowsill. The cool air swung around him in slow breaths. He needed to shower, but he wanted to play. The wooden floorboards creaked as he stepped back down the stairs. Naruto, already seated comfortably in the plush couch, looked up from the book he was reading and raised an eyebrow. He kept his mouth shut as he watched Sasuke sit on the piano bench and raise his fingers to the keys.

The first note rang as clear as a bell through the quiet singing of the crickets and the hushed humming of the breeze. Sasuke paused on it, pressing his thumb and forefinger into that major third as if his life depended on it, feeling the tone resonate deep within the piano. He played it again, then shook his head and started over with a new note, a single key. The rest of the song flew out of his fingertips. He hadn't played this song in months, but muscle memory was a fascinating thing.

"I've never heard you play Bach before," Naruto commented when he finished, keeping his eyes on his book.

"You haven't heard me do a lot things before," said Sasuke. He spun around on the piano bench so he was facing Naruto. Sensing his movement, Naruto looked up at him. The intensely blue gaze used to make him uneasy, but in this moment, Sasuke felt soothed. As if Naruto looked at him and didn't see anything he wanted to change. He smiled, "So, did you like it?"

"I did." His smile was returned, and Naruto heaved himself off the couch and closed the distance between them. He pressed Sasuke's back into the piano, a few notes ringing somberly into their shared breaths, and kissed him full on the mouth.

It's not like Sasuke had never kissed anyone in his life—but living in the quiet countryside, underneath the roof of strict parents didn't exactly grant him much freedom when it came to experimenting. But he found that he liked kissing Naruto. It made his heart skip and his body heat up in a way he'd never felt before. All those days spent longing for him in silence, and now he had him at his lips.

He pulled away to find that sweat was beginning to bead in his hair. "I'm going to shower. Now," he whispered, chancing one last peck on the lips before he slipped away. He knew that Naruto knew better than to follow him to the shower—or did he? The boy was from the city, after all. They were crazy.

No. Naruto wouldn't. He was respectful, like that. Steady, like that. Perhaps he knew Sasuke wasn't comfortable enough, just yet. In his room, Sasuke stripped and flung his clothes to the corner. He'd pick them up later.

The bathroom tiles were clammy and cold against his feet, and he unknowingly shivered. He stared at himself in the mirror and peeled off the bandage on his neck. A small, oval bruise graced his white neck. He didn't bruise that easily, but when he did, it would sit on his skin like black ink on paper.

 _Damn it, Naruto_.

The water fell over his shoulders in a warm embrace. He rinsed himself, then remembered once more that his parents weren't going to be home tonight. Then realized what that meant. He'd read enough books and seen enough movies to know. He looked down.

 _Should I shave?_ _Clean it up?_

He shook his head.

 _What am I doing?_

The shower shut off with a turn of the handle and he ran a towel over himself. He decided he would stay in his own room tonight. Naruto liked him, too. There was no need to rush it.

 _But—fuck—I'd do anything for him_.

With a huff, he fell into bed.

He didn't realize he had drifted off until he awoke to squeaking. The sound was coming from his window. He squinted at it, trying to make out the shapes in the moonlight. A shadow fell upon his room, large and black and leering.

He screeched, scrambling back in surprise and falling off his bed. Laughter filled the darkness, throaty and familiar. "Shit, sorry! Are you okay?"

He sat up and peeked at Naruto over his bed, rubbing the shoulder he had landed on. " _What the hell_ are you doing?"

"Sneaking over," Naruto bit out, face lighting up with glee.

"Our rooms are connected _through the bathroom_ ," Sasuke said, incredulous.

"I know."

" _My parents aren't even home_."

"I know."

" _What_."

"I said I know." Naruto was smiling.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know."

"Naruto!"

"Okay, sorry, sorry. Can I sleep here?"

"What?"

"You sure you didn't perforate an eardrum in that fall?" his shoulders were shaking as he tried to hold in his laugh.

"Naruto!" Sasuke stared at him. Naruto stared back, face bright with mirth, until he relented. "Fine. Get in."

Naruto planted himself in Sasuke's bed, burying his face in his pillow and sighing. Sasuke's cheeks reddened when he suddenly remembered what he had done to Naruto's pillow. "Oh, Sasuke, your bed is so nice."

"We have the same beds."

"Oh." A pause, then, "But this one smells like you."

Blue eyes peered up at him. He was grateful for the darkness when his body began to feel like it had been tossed into flames. He slowly crawled back into the bed. Naruto greeted him with a kiss on the shoulder.

"Oh, wait," Naruto said, pressing a finger to the hickey on Sasuke's neck. "That's actually really dark."

"I know."

"Oops. I'll try not to do it again," he leaned forward and kissed it. Sasuke jerked. It tickled. Naruto snickered, his breath low, and added, "In places you can see."

* * *

He couldn't sleep. His back was clammy, pressed against his sheets and he breathed, kicking his blanket lower down his legs. He liked to lay splayed out on his bed, but he couldn't do that with the body next to his. The shadows of the trees swayed on his ceiling, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Naruto laying on his stomach, head cradled in his arms, watching him.

"Sasuke," he murmured. Sasuke hummed at him. When the moonlight hit the blue of his eyes, they turned into the sea, full with shifting tides and curling waves. "I want to get to know you. Tell me about yourself."

"About myself?" He frowned.

"Yeah."

He turned to face Naruto. "I don't want to bore you."

Naruto didn't smile. The blue of his eyes shifted in the darkness. "Stop that."

"What?"

"Putting yourself down," Naruto reached over to flick a dark strand of hair from Sasuke's face. "Why do you do that?"

"I don't know," he whispered, then shook his head. He did know. "So you don't have to do it for me."

For a moment, Naruto looked genuinely hurt. "Why would I put you down?"

"Because everyone does." Sasuke slapped away the hand by his face. He turned away from Naruto to face the wall. He wasn't in the mood to discuss this. "Parents, teachers, relatives. I'll never be as good as Itachi."

Naruto was silent for a moment. "I don't have siblings, so maybe I can't understand. But you can't keep comparing yourself to other people."

Silence.

"Everyone is different. How can you fairly put them together and decide which one is better? No life is worth more than another. And Sasuke, you're one of the most amazing people I've ever met."

More silence.

"You've practically perfected Debussy," he tried. "And you can recite all the enzymes of metabolism in your sleep. Which kind of annoys me but that's pretty fucking amazing."

Sasuke felt his face grow warm. Naruto rested a finger on his collarbone, tracing its indentation until he reached his shoulder, and ran his hand down Sasuke's arm. He linked his index finger with Sasuke's pinky. "You look like a man carved from marble. Well, maybe except for this." He leaned forward to kiss the purple bruise on Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke watched him, this golden boy who had only entered his life two weeks ago. Naruto. His presence was like the act of swimming. Once learned, it would never be forgotten. And who would ever forget him? Naruto was like the sun in his very flesh, so bright that shadows ceased to exist. Then, there was the eyes. A glimpse of the ocean. He hoped he would never forget how to swim in the waves of his blue eyes.

Perhaps he had all the intention in the world. Perhaps he had none of it. But in the steady embrace of Naruto's reassuring gaze, he leaned forward.

Naruto tasted of honey, like the color of his hair, the color of his skin. He had probably taken a spoonful of it before heading upstairs. The city people had weird snacking habits. Not that it mattered now. Sasuke latched onto that sweet mouth of his as if he were biting into the first ripe peach of summer. Naruto pressed into him, and Sasuke gripped his shoulders and pulled him closer. He wasn't sure what to do at first, so he took his time, pulling the collar of his damp shirt aside to kiss his neck. He lapped at the junction between his collarbone and his shoulder. The light of the moon caught the curve of Naruto's neck as he arched into Sasuke and Sasuke smiled. He knew Naruto in laughter, head tipped to the sky and shoulders trembling like an earthquake as his chest rumbled in glee. In concentration with a textbook pulled to his face, lips curving around the consonants and vowels of the human anatomy. Sounding out each rise and dip of man. Now he would know him in pleasure. He would memorize the way his brows came together, the way his mouth fell open in a gasp. Would engrave in his mind the way his muscles rippled underneath his golden skin with each movement.

Their breaths quickened, as if they had just swum multiple laps around the pool. Or like that time earlier in the day, when Naruto had announced a game to see who could hold their breath underwater for the longest time. Sasuke had dipped his head under, encased by the coolness of the water, counting the ripples of blurred sunlight before his lungs screeched and he came bursting through the surface. His head had thudded with his pulse and he had gulped for the air that rushed into him. Ino had clapped him on the back. He'd won.

He had laughed in surprise and his cut lip had stung.

"What a cliché." Naruto was chuckling now, his face bright in the darkness. He rolled over so that Sasuke was pressed between him and the mattress. "The parents are out, the kids are—you know." He emphasized his point with a thrust of his hips. Sasuke, with fingers suddenly wrapping around Naruto's well-formed shoulders, inhaled sharply and bit his tongue, though not hard enough to draw blood.

"Can we not talk about my parents right now," Sasuke mumbled.

Naruto laughed again, his breath hot and searing against Sasuke's jaw. The heat spread through him like the branches of peach trees and he turned into it. Opened his mouth into Naruto's and drank the sweet of his throat like nectar.

It was a need that pierced them both, hot as sun and cool as rain. Naruto sat up, shoulders rising and falling like ocean waves, and pulled his shirt over his head. Sasuke pushed himself up and followed suit. His skin was damp with the beginnings of sweat, and his clothes almost clung to him. He tore it all off, then turned to face Naruto. For the first time, he felt confident about the way his body looked. Or perhaps it was the shroud of night that made him puff out his chest. Pale as it was, tainted with the peeling leftovers of sunburn.

 _He will take me as I am._

Naruto did. He cupped Sasuke's cheek in his hand and brought their lips together once more. The momentum of their kiss had them both falling back into the mattress. Sasuke wasn't sure where to put his hands, only knew that he had wanted this for far too long. He ran one through Naruto's hair, letting the strands slide through his fingers. With his other, he traced down the lines of Naruto's well-developed shoulder, his strong back, his insistent hips. He grew bold and reached forward and closed his fingers over his length. Squeezed.

"Sasuke—" Naruto gasped, breaking their kiss. His eyes, like sapphires set on fire, held Sasuke's gaze as if they were the only two beings in the world. The edge of Sasuke's lip curled up in a smirk. He moved his hand, only slightly upward, because he didn't know how Naruto liked it. Twisted his wrist, then down again. He ran his thumb over the slit, and Naruto's breath fell from him in curses. "Fuck, Sasuke, the friction—oh, _fuck_ —is going to—kill me."

He understood. "Hold on."

He didn't know how he did it, but he managed to pull himself away from Naruto and into the bathroom. The coolness of the air was shocking, away from Naruto's heat. Itachi had a secret stash in the corner of one of the cabinets. He didn't know that Sasuke had found it a few months ago. It had been an accident—he'd been looking for an old bottle of hair oil. One he had loved, then forgotten, then remembered. He'd looked through Itachi's things, thinking he had stolen it.

The stash was as Itachi had left it. Sasuke grabbed a bottle of lube, and after some thought, a handful of condoms. He jogged back into the room, suddenly conscious of the sound of his feet slapping against the floor. Naruto was tangled in his sheets, the moon making his sweat-dampened skin shine silver. The golden boy, now white as silver. It was almost odd.

Naruto eyed the items in his hand with a raised eyebrow. "Have you—?"

"No," Sasuke said. He knew his face was red with embarrassment. Naruto held out his arms and he fell into his warm chest. He loved the way his skin felt against Naruto's. "But I want to, with you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Sasuke."

"I'm sure. I've been sure," he pressed.

Then Naruto traced his collarbone with his tongue, and conversation ceased. He unknowingly let go of everything in his grasp in favor of holding on to Naruto's shoulders. Naruto's tongue was relentless. It ran over every crevice of his body, exposing and finding parts of him that he had not even known existed. Small indents and dimples not labeled in his anatomy textbooks. Sasuke gasped, then groaned, then grew hoarse as word after word ran off his tongue. Curses, Naruto's name, word upon word upon word like a prayer. Naruto feasted on him like a god on ambrosia.

Sasuke heard the clicking of plastic before he felt the finger prodding inside him. It felt slick. He nodded, breathless, over and over again, face contorted at the new feeling of Naruto feeling his insides. "I'm okay," he said when Naruto had asked. "No, it doesn't hurt."

"Relax."

He tried. One finger became two, twisting and almost, scooping. It stung. His breath whistled through his clenched teeth and Naruto paused. Sasuke could feel the bulge of the muscles in his arm as he gripped it. He tilted his head up and was granted a kiss. The hand moved once more.

It came all at once. The fingers had turned, pushed lower, and something exploded behind his eyes. He bit down in pleasured shock.

"Ow!" Naruto withdrew, holding his other hand to his lip and bringing it up again. It wasn't bleeding.

"Sorry—ah—" He drawled, keened, pushing the back of his head into the pillow. The fingers had touched him there, again. Naruto was smirking at him now. The fingers withdrew, then came back, pressing and flicking and Sasuke forgot how to breathe. His back curved off the mattress, legs kicking into the tangle of sheets. "Naruto!"

Then it stopped. He felt empty, but was momentarily grateful for the moment to catch his breath. To the side, he heard the sound of Naruto ripping open the condom packet. Another moment to breathe, another click of a plastic cap, before Naruto held his thighs open, kissed his forehead and his lips. "You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."

Naruto pushed into him, slowly, slowly. Sasuke held his breath and cupped his face, though not gently. It hurt. "Kiss me. Kiss me now."

Then Naruto was inside him and kissing him and holding him and Sasuke had never felt closer to any other person in the world. He dug his heels into Naruto's thighs and was gifted with a deep groan. Naruto pulled away and pressed his mouth to his ear. His hand massaged the muscle of Sasuke's thigh. "You okay?"

"I feel like I just shit fire."

Naruto laughed, a light sound that came out strained before he pulled out, then pushed back in. Sasuke willed himself to relax with the movement. He angled Naruto's head to him and tugged him in for another kiss.

At some point, the pain disappeared and Naruto pushed his hand into the junction under his knee and pulled his leg up and out and pushed in and it was as if all the stars burst and Sasuke almost screamed. Naruto drank his sounds like a parched man.

"Fuck, fuck—Naruto," he was panting, falling back and forth along the movement of their bodies. Naruto curled a hand around Sasuke's length and jerked his wrist. Sasuke cried out. " _Naruto_."

"I'm here, I'm here."

They were breathing the same air, breathing into one another. The tension and want and need built inside Sasuke like a glass with wine. Up and up and up until it brimmed, then tipped—

"Naruto!"

He threw his head back, torso curved in the heat of the night that was theirs, and Naruto caught him, held him as he thrust forward and came with Sasuke's name on his lips.

Later, Sasuke pressed himself to Naruto, so tightly that nothing else may have come between them, and smiled. He was given a moment to breathe, two moments perhaps, before Naruto, face bright as a full moon in night, ran his fingers through his black hair and pulled their mouths to one another once more.

* * *

The warm air wrapped around them like a silk cloak, and Sasuke relished in its scent, of Naruto and of himself. He was deathly sore and strangely awake despite the few hours of sleep he had gotten the night before. Naruto was passionate, relentless. And most of all, fair. He'd let Sasuke do as he wanted, however he wanted, and Sasuke had pressed himself into Naruto and watched blue eyes roll in pleasure. When they weren't indulging in physical pleasures, they talked, whispered. In murmurs, Sasuke spoke about himself. Slowly, at first, before the words came tumbling out. He lay himself bare for Naruto. His insecurities, his fears, his wishes. In return, Naruto shared his own story and Sasuke learned that Naruto, too, had his own flaws, however like the sun he may seem.

Sasuke had never known a night as long and short as this one.

They were a mess of legs and sheets, lying on their stomachs, horizontal on the bed. Heads pressed together as if in conspiracy, to watch the dawning of the world through the peek of open window. Naruto traced an idle finger over the expanse of Sasuke's back. Around the many, many purple bruises he had left with his mouth. Sasuke had been okay with it. He had left his own mark on the inner junction of Naruto's thigh, had heard him moan and felt him writhe against the mattress as he did it. It was high up on his leg, enough so that no one would know of its presence but the two of them. Sasuke liked that.

The sky blushed at first light, glimpsing at them shyly. Naruto, boy of the city, had never seen a pure sunrise before. Sasuke had insisted. His view was best from his window, he'd said. Naruto had shaken his head. _Who even wakes up this early?_

He turned his head to Sasuke now, his crystal eyes catching the barest of the sun's glimmer, and pressed his nose into his cheek. Sasuke laughed breathily, "No, no, you have to watch."

Naruto feigned a groan of annoyance and tapped his lips to Sasuke's cheek in a kiss that was light as the breeze, quick as the river. Sasuke intertwined their fingers, pulling his gaze from the sunrise to glimpse at gold against silver. Naruto's hands were strong, his fingers long and slender. The hands of a pianist, of a future surgeon. Weaving music and life with his touch.

After the first, hesitant ray of sun, the rest was quick. The earth awoke in a blinding wash of birdsong and warmth, and the flushed pinkness of the sky gave way to blue and wisps of white.

With bright light, however, came awareness. Sasuke let Naruto's hand drop from his and sat up, suddenly frighteningly cognizant of the previous night's activities. He wondered if Naruto felt the same way. Away with the faded darkness went any remaining secrets, and the mess of sheets, the crumpled pillows, the crusted stains on the covers, all sat in the blunt and unrestrained reality of daylight.

He had never given up so much of himself before. The sounds he had made, the words he had said, the parts of his body that had been grasped and kneaded. He knew he had pleaded at some point last night. The last, quiet sliver of pride he held to himself had been given away. He wasn't sure if there was anything left. Naruto had seen his heart laid bare and eaten him raw.

 _What have I done to myself?_

He tore his gaze from the bed and found Naruto watching him, face clouded with uncertainty as he read his expression. He knew that Naruto understood what he was thinking. He didn't know what he would do about it. Sasuke let him speak first, the words coming out haltingly. "Do you—regret it?"

"I—" he whispered, then paused and swallowed a breath. When he spoke again, his voice was stronger. "I'm afraid I've given too much of myself, and now there is nothing left."

"Sasuke." Naruto looked at him, and Sasuke let himself be swallowed into his eyes of sky. Hands reached for him, grabbed his own and pulled him in so that he could rest his forehead against another. A warm palm cupped the back of his neck. "You are here, Sasuke, in this," he kissed him then, then ran a finger over this brow. "And this." Over his temple. "And this." Over the line of his jaw. "And this." The line of his collarbone. "And this." His shoulder, his arm, his hand, his fingers. His chest, his stomach, his hips, his thighs, his calves. The arches of his feet, the curves of his toes. _This, and this, and this._

"It's okay to be afraid. It's okay to not be a hundred percent, all the time," Naruto said.

Sasuke closed his eyes against the way Naruto held him. Soft enough that he could escape the embrace of his own free will, but firm enough that he felt needed, felt real and whole. Then, as he watched the rays of sun wash his room with light, he smiled and said, "I do not regret it."


End file.
